Internet Communications - How to Use in Your Business

Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: E-Communication in the 21st Century COSE Small Business Conference October 2006 www.smbtrendwire.com 1
2. Slide 2: Your Presenters Find us at: Anita Campbell Small Business Trends www.smallbiztrends.com Steve Rucinski Small Business CEO www.smbceo.com www.smbtrendwire.com 2
3. Slide 3: Choose Your Communication “One-to-Many” Type Tech Customers: PR SEO Value difficulty existing vs. new Value Blogs Low to Both High High Medium Forums Low New Low Low Podcasts Low to Both Medium Low to Medium Medium Email Low to Existing Low None unless newsletters Medium posted online Social Low New Medium Low networking Listservs Low New Low None www.smbtrendwire.com 3
4. Slide 4: Blogs • Chronologically arranged websites (short for web + log) • Use to communicate with public and customers • Advantages over traditional websites: – Draw visitors back (fresh content + conversational features) – Lots of linking to other sites (great for search engines) – Easy and fast to update – Inexpensive www.smbtrendwire.com 4
5. Slide 5: Business Blog Example “Me to You” www.smbtrendwire.com 5
6. Slide 6: Blog Interactivity Comments by readers www.smbtrendwire.com 6
7. Slide 7: Blogs Links Multiple links to other sites www.smbtrendwire.com 7
8. Slide 8: Blog Software Tools • Start fast with free, hosted options: – Blogger - www.blogger.com – WordPress hosted version - www.wordpress.com • Upgraded versions offer more flexibility: – WordPress non-hosted version is free except for setup and hosting charges - www.wordpress.org – TypePad starts at $5 per month: www.typepad.com – Movable Type also popular - www.movabletype.com • For more resources,visit: www.smallbiztrends.com /blogging www.smbtrendwire.com 8
9. Slide 9: Internet Forums • An Internet forum is a Web site for holding discussions • There are forums for a large number of different topics • Also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards www.smbtrendwire.com 9
10. Slide 10: Forum Example www.smbtrendwire.com 10
11. Slide 11: Forums - Get Started • Use your favorite search engine with the topic of your choice followed by ‘forum’ • Pick a forum with many users and recent activity • Also check out www.boardtracker.com www.smbtrendwire.com 11
12. Slide 12: Podcasting • Podcasting, a combination of Apple's \"iPod“ and \"broadcasting“ • A method of publishing audio (MP3) files to the Internet • Allows users to subscribe to a “feed” using special podcatcher or feedreader sites/software, and be notified of new recordings automatically www.smbtrendwire.com 12
13. Slide 13: Podcasting - Recording How Does it Work? (Recording) • Publishers record audio content and then post it on a website for listeners. • Create or edit an existing RSS feed including a link to the audio file in the \"enclosure\" field of an RSS 2.0 feed, uploading it to a website. • Tell the world that a podcast is available. www.smbtrendwire.com 13
14. Slide 14: Podcasting - Listening How Does it Work? (Listening) • Set up a podcatcher or feedreader that supports podcasting or sync a wireless device like an iPod with your computer. • Enter the URL of the podcast feed into the feedreader or podcatcher of your choice. • As new items appear, review the podcast's description and listen to those of interest. www.smbtrendwire.com 14
15. Slide 15: iTunes – THE Place for Podcasts www.smbtrendwire.com 15
16. Slide 16: Odeo - Easy Way to Record Podcasts www.smbtrendwire.com 16
17. Slide 17: Gcast – Another Easy Way to Record www.smbtrendwire.com 17
18. Slide 18: How to Get Started – Advanced • Secure audio recording equipment • Secure audio recording software • Record the audio • Find resource to host the audio files • Identify website to distribute audio through • Create RSS Feed for subscribers • Market podcast to directories (like iTunes) www.smbtrendwire.com 18
19. Slide 19: Podcasting Resources • http://studio.odeo.com • http://www.gcast.com • http://www.podshowcreator.com • http://www.podblaze.com • http://www.gabcast.com • http://www.hipcast.com • Podcasting Whitepaper (http://tinyurl.com/zlmx2) • Podcasting for Dummies Ebook (http://tinyurl.com/mca3g) www.smbtrendwire.com 19
20. Slide 20: Email Newsletters • Email is not dead • A house list is worth its weight in gold • Newsletters keep your business front and center with customers • Can-Spam law makes it trickier: – Penalties for sending unsolicited emails – Email should be opt-in (preferably “double opt-in”) www.smbtrendwire.com 20
21. Slide 21: Email Newsletters • Don’t DIY! Email marketing services: – Improve delivery rates (whitelisting) – Comply with Can-Spam law – Offer advanced personalization and HTML templates • Recommendations: – Vertical Response: www.verticalresponse.com – Constant Contact: www.constantcontact.com – Lyris: www.lyris.com – Bronto: www.bronto.com www.smbtrendwire.com 21
22. Slide 22: Email Marketing Example •Design •List admin •Mailing www.smbtrendwire.com 22
23. Slide 23: Discussion Lists & Listservs • A listserv is a communication tool that lets members post suggestions or questions to a distribution list (like cc’ing on email). • You submit a question or comment, which is then distributed to all of the other people on that list. • Can be public or private lists www.smbtrendwire.com 23
24. Slide 24: Listserv Example www.smbtrendwire.com 24
25. Slide 25: Listservs - How to Get Started • Use your favorite search engine with the topic of your choice followed by ‘listserv’ • Pick a listserv with many users and recent activity • Complete an application if required, dive in and make a comment or ask a question www.smbtrendwire.com 25
26. Slide 26: Social Networking Sites • Places on the Internet where people meet in cyberspace to chat, socialize, debate, and network. Some examples include MySpace.com, Friendster.com, and Facebook.com. • Business-oriented social networking or community sites include: – Linkedin.com – Fastpitch.com – Jumpup.com – Work.com www.smbtrendwire.com 26
27. Slide 27: LinkedIn Example www.smbtrendwire.com 27
28. Slide 28: JumpUp – A New Breed www.smbtrendwire.com 28
29. Slide 29: MySpace Example www.smbtrendwire.com 29
30. Slide 30: FastPitch Example www.smbtrendwire.com 30
31. Slide 31: Social Networking - Get Started • Start with one of the sites; enter a profile of you and your business. • Search for and invite others you know to connect with you through the service. • Update your profile regularly, and communicate with your network frequently. www.smbtrendwire.com 31
32. Slide 32: Choose Your Communication “One to One” Type Tech difficulty Expense Web-based Email Low Free Email Program (Outlook, Low to Medium Medium etc.) PDFs Low to Medium Free to Medium www.smbtrendwire.com 32
33. Slide 33: Web-Based Email • Revolution! – Online services – no need to install -- access anywhere from a Web browser • Today’s offerings competitive: – Advanced message compose and organizing – Built-in spam filtering and anti-virus – Huge storage: up to 2+ GB – Packaged with other offerings: spreadsheets, calendar, Web design tool, domain hosting www.smbtrendwire.com 33
34. Slide 34: Web-Based Email • Three impressive – FREE - options – GMail – www.gmail.com – Yahoo mail - http://mail.yahoo.com – Microsoft Office Live – http://officelive.microsoft.com • Set up a free account and try them out www.smbtrendwire.com 34
35. Slide 35: GMail – So Much More than Email www.smbtrendwire.com 35
36. Slide 36: Yahoo Mail – User Friendly www.smbtrendwire.com 36
37. Slide 37: Office Live – Designed for Small Biz www.smbtrendwire.com 37
38. Slide 38: Microsoft Outlook Email & Others • Outlook on the desktop still the biz standard – Contact management – Email – Calendar • Advanced mail functions: – Mail merge – Elaborate filtering, search • Other alternatives: – WordPerfect only full-featured alternative – Open-source competitors no match www.smbtrendwire.com 38
39. Slide 39: PDFs • Universal document format – Users use free Adobe Reader to view PDFs – Harder to tamper with • Useful for whitepapers, presentations, eBooks www.smbtrendwire.com 39
40. Slide 40: PDFs - Creating • Many free and low cost options now available to create PDFs: – Adobe.com online service - $9.99/month – PDF995.com – free version or $10 to upgrade – WordPerfect now creates PDFs – Many other solutions exist – search for “pdf writer” or “create pdf” www.smbtrendwire.com 40
41. Slide 41: Questions? www.smbtrendwire.com 41
42. Slide 42: Contact Anita Campbell Steve Rucinski • anita@anitacampbell.com • steve@smbtrendwire.com • 330.242.1893 • 330.321.4777 www.smbtrendwire.com 42